According to online statistics, there are approximately 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK (study conducted in 2014), with around one in fourteen people over sixty-five suffering from the illness. Dementia is one of the cruellest and most homewrecking diseases that we as humans face. There is no cure, and it can affect anybody. Most commonly dementia is diagnosed as Alzheimer’s, the deterioration of the brain in the elderly, which primarily affects memory functions. Thankfully I have never known anyone with severe Alzheimer’s, so I’ve not seen the first-hand effects it can have on a family. But I know plenty of people that do know someone who has suffered from it, or is currently afflicted by it; so, I do know what it is capable of, and in cases where the family are not strong enough to support that person the terrible effects it can have on everyone close to that individual.
In The Father, we follow Anthony (Anthony Hopkins) as he argues with his daughter Anne (Olivia Colman) about how capable he is at looking after himself, as well as engaging with various people he struggles to remember such as Anne’s husband Paul (Rufus Sewell), and his new carer Laura (Imogen Poots).
What I found truly engaging about The Father was the way it approaches the issue of dementia. I tend to find so many dramas about the subject are overly emotional sob stories that only ever seem to have former genius’ suffering from the disease, and/or focus solely on the care of said person and the difficulties that come with that job. The Father puts you in the shoes of Anthony and you see the world as he sees it. So, at the start of the film, Anthony seems perfectly coherent and it’s simply everyone else that’s forgetting things or seemingly intentionally confusing him, but as the film progresses and the fragmented story begins to fall into place, we are able to piece together who’s who, and what’s actually happened, and then also how Anthony has managed to get himself as confused as he has because we’re seeing it through his eyes.
It’s quite a distressing watch at times, and I left the cinema feeling somewhat dazed and confused because I had become so engrossed in Anthony’s mental decline. Whilst The Father is firmly rooted in the drama genre, there are moments where it borders into psychological horror because Anthony is so confused as to what’s happening.
In The Father, we follow Anthony (Anthony Hopkins) as he argues with his daughter Anne (Olivia Colman) about how capable he is at looking after himself, as well as engaging with various people he struggles to remember such as Anne’s husband Paul (Rufus Sewell), and his new carer Laura (Imogen Poots).
What I found truly engaging about The Father was the way it approaches the issue of dementia. I tend to find so many dramas about the subject are overly emotional sob stories that only ever seem to have former genius’ suffering from the disease, and/or focus solely on the care of said person and the difficulties that come with that job. The Father puts you in the shoes of Anthony and you see the world as he sees it. So, at the start of the film, Anthony seems perfectly coherent and it’s simply everyone else that’s forgetting things or seemingly intentionally confusing him, but as the film progresses and the fragmented story begins to fall into place, we are able to piece together who’s who, and what’s actually happened, and then also how Anthony has managed to get himself as confused as he has because we’re seeing it through his eyes.
It’s quite a distressing watch at times, and I left the cinema feeling somewhat dazed and confused because I had become so engrossed in Anthony’s mental decline. Whilst The Father is firmly rooted in the drama genre, there are moments where it borders into psychological horror because Anthony is so confused as to what’s happening.
It’s excellently presented too with actors frequently changing roles, rooms and their contents seemingly shifting positions from scene to scene, and conversations that either loop back into themselves, or contradict conversations had moments prior. It can be a frustrating and anxiety inducing experience, but once some of the larger pieces start to fall into place in the latter stages of the film, how the events have played out and who is really who begin to become clear to the viewer as we finally shift away from Anthony’s perspective to see what he has become.
Everyone who watches The Father is undoubtably going to bring their own experience with dementia to the table, and so it’ll affect everyone differently. But I can see The Father being something that many find emotionally distressing and potentially even too much to deal with at times. But with that in mind I would still recommend watching The Father as I feel I learned something whilst watching it and began to understand how to see things from the perspective of someone who suffers from it.
It also has a brilliant performance from Hopkins, not to say the rest weren’t also brilliant (because all round it was a fantastic cast) but Hopkins’ performance is up there among his best. If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend giving The Father a watch, but you may need to psyche yourself up for it first.
Everyone who watches The Father is undoubtably going to bring their own experience with dementia to the table, and so it’ll affect everyone differently. But I can see The Father being something that many find emotionally distressing and potentially even too much to deal with at times. But with that in mind I would still recommend watching The Father as I feel I learned something whilst watching it and began to understand how to see things from the perspective of someone who suffers from it.
It also has a brilliant performance from Hopkins, not to say the rest weren’t also brilliant (because all round it was a fantastic cast) but Hopkins’ performance is up there among his best. If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend giving The Father a watch, but you may need to psyche yourself up for it first.